FREE REPORT!

Friend or Foe? Beneficial Bacteria in the Gut Could Help Prevent Breast Cancer

Oct. 14, 2014|308 views

SpreadTheWord!

Yesterday, I shared some fascinating new information about
antibiotics and other beneficial chemicals produced by your body’s
own friendly bacteria. Today, the amazing story of our bacterial passengers
continues unfolding. Would you believe scientists think that having a more
diverse community of gut bacteria could mean a lower risk of breast cancer? It’s
true.

New evidence suggests that having a more diverse gut microbiome—the
community of many different species of friendly bacteria living in the gut—could
influence the ratio of estrogen metabolites circulating in the bloodstream.
That’s important, because certain metabolites are suspected of
increasing the risk of breast cancer and other hormone-driven cancers.

“In women who had more diverse
communities of gut bacteria, higher levels of estrogen fragments were left
after the body metabolized the hormone, compared to women with less diverse
intestinal bacteria,” said one of the study's authors,
James Goedert, MD, of the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer
Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, MD. “This pattern suggests that these women
may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer.”

Eating a plant-based diet, rich in whole foods such as fruits,
vegetables, grains, and dairy is linked to a more diverse gut microbiome. Thus,
eating a healthful diet may help reduce your risk of developing breast cancer
by improving your estrogen metabolite ratios.